GUIDE · GREEK FOOD

What Is Gyro Meat Made Of? How a Gyro Is Carved at Our Counter

The honest answer has two parts: what gyro meat is in general, and what turns on our spit. Here is both, from the counter the family has run since 1984.

By Athens Voulgaridis · Updated September 2, 2026 · 9 min read

What is gyro meat made of? At our counter in Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, two cones turn on the spits: one beef and lamb, one chicken. Gyro meat is seasoned meat roasted on a vertical spit and carved in thin slices as the outside browns, traditionally lamb, and also beef, pork or chicken. US labeling guidance sets a meat minimum.

That is the short version. The longer answer has two halves, and only one of them is ours to give. The first is general: what the dish is, how it cooks, and what the rules say about anything sold under that name. The second is what we see from behind the counter. Here is both, in that order.

The cone and the spit: how gyro meat cooks

Gyro meat cooks vertically, from the outside in, and it is carved in stages instead of being cooked through and served all at once. The cone turns beside a hot element that faces one side of it, so the surface browns first while everything behind it is still waiting its turn. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes gyro meat as roasted on a vertical skewer and sliced off in “thin, crispy shavings as it cooks”, and notes that the dish is popular around the world and that many variations exist. That last part matters, and we come back to it below.

That is the thing most people miss the first time they watch it. A pan or a grill cooks a piece of meat all the way through and then the job is finished. A spit never finishes. It gives up one thin layer at a time, and the carver takes only that layer, the part that is ready, and leaves the rest to keep turning. It is the reason a slice off a spit can have a crisp edge and a soft middle in the same mouthful, which is not something you can get out of a pan.

It is also why a busy counter and a quiet one produce different food. A stack that is carved steadily keeps presenting a fresh surface to the heat, so it browns, is taken, and browns again, all day. A stack that sits does not get that, and it shows. The spit is in plain view for a reason: how often it is being carved tells you something real about a place. For the other half of how we cook here, how a gyro differs from souvlaki covers the skewers on the grill a few feet away.

What the meat actually is

Gyro meat is seasoned meat cooked on a vertical spit, and the animal it comes from varies. Britannica lists gyro meat as typically lamb, beef, pork, or chicken, and says that many variations exist around the world. The same is true of the other traditions that cook on a vertical spit, which we set out in gyro, shawarma and doner compared. Lamb is the traditional one and the one most people picture when they hear the word. It has not been the only one for a very long time.

The name is no help, because it only describes the motion. Merriam-Webster traces gyro to the modern Greek gyros, meaning turn, from the rotation of the meat on a spit. The word tells you nothing about what is on it.

In the United States there is at least a floor. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service publishes the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, revised May 22, 2026, and it carries an entry for gyros: products identified with that term must contain at least 65 percent meat and no more than 12 percent extenders and binders. The entry names the forms it covers, gyro loaf, gyro cone, gyro portions and gyro slices. Two things are worth being precise about. First, this is USDA labeling guidance, not law: the document states on every page that guidance documents lack the force and effect of law unless a statute expressly authorizes them or a contract incorporates them. Second, the entry sets no species requirement at all, so it licenses no claim about how much lamb is in anything, or about what any particular kitchen uses.

Which leaves the honest answer to the suspicion behind the question. A floor exists for products sold under that name, and above the floor, practice varies from one place to the next. The standard does not decide between the ways a stack can be built, and no article can tell you what is on a spit you are standing in front of. The only way to know is to ask the people at that counter. We get asked most days, and the short answer we give at the counter is on our FAQ page. The longer one is the rest of this post.

How it is carved at our counter

Two cones turn on our spits from open: one beef and lamb, one chicken. The gyro meat is roasted and sliced Greek-style. It comes off the spit and is sliced fresh to order, and that is the whole of it. Nothing is carved in advance and set aside, because a slice that has been sitting is a different thing from one that has just come off the heat.

The carver works down the spit as the surface is ready, holding a long knife flat against it, taking the browned layer and letting the slices fall. Then the spit keeps turning and the next layer comes up to the element. When you order, that is what is happening a few feet in front of you, and you are welcome to stand and watch it. The spit is in plain view, not tucked into a back kitchen.

From there the slices go straight into a warm pita with tzatziki, tomato and onion, or onto a platter with salad and pita on the side. Fries are not automatic: they go in the sandwich only if you ask. The salmon is a separate job and never touches the spit: we also pan-fry salmon fillets to order. The family has worked this spit since 1984, which is long enough that nobody behind the counter thinks about the motion anymore.

Beef and lamb, or chicken: choosing at our counter

The two cones read differently, and the choice is worth a few seconds of thought. The beef and lamb cone is the traditional one and the fuller flavored: more fat, so the edges crisp harder, and the lamb carries through. If you have a picture in your head of what a gyro tastes like, that is the one in it. Chicken is the leaner side of the counter: pale slices, a little crisp at the edge, and it takes the tzatziki straight on, which is why it is the one we tend to suggest to somebody who is not sure. The crispy chicken is the same bird given a crust, for anyone who wants more texture. If you want pork, it is on the grill rather than the spit, as souvlaki.

Here is how they sit on our board, with prices from the autumn 2026 menu. A gyro sandwich is $13.00, whether you take the beef and lamb, the chicken or the crispy chicken, and the gyro platter is $14.50. The salmon gyro, pan-fried, is $13.75. If you want the gyro shape without meat in it, the Veggie Fritter Gyro is $11.50 and vegetarian: fried edamame with Greek yogurt lemon sauce. The current list is always on the menu page, where our gyros and platters are set out in full.

How to eat a gyro

Hot, with both hands, unwrapping as you go. That is the whole technique, and there is no wrong way to do it, but a few things help. Hold it upright rather than flat, so the tzatziki runs down into the pita instead of out of the far end. Peel the paper back a little at a time and leave the rest wrapped, because the wrap is structure as much as packaging. Eat it within a few minutes of it being handed over, while the edges of the meat are still crisp and the pita is still warm. It does not get better sitting on a bench.

Sit down if you can. The market has tables and they fill up around lunch, so if this is your first time in the building, where to sit at the market is covered in our first-timer guide. If you ordered a platter instead, the shape of the meal changes: the meat, salad and sauce come on the plate, the pita is there for scooping, and you can take your time with it.

Is gyro meat healthy?

It depends on the meat, the sauce and the portion, and a platter with salad eats differently from a sandwich with fries. That is not a dodge, it is the answer. The same three meats can arrive next to a plate of greens or inside a pita with fries on top, and those are not the same meal.

What we can tell you honestly: chicken is the leanest of the three, a platter puts salad beside the meat instead of bread around it, and how much tzatziki you ask for is not nothing. Past that, we will not hand you numbers, because we are cooks rather than dietitians and a figure we invented would be worse than no figure at all. If you have an allergen or a preparation question, call us at 215-629-9775 before you order and we will go through it with you.

Come watch it turn

The spit sits at the front of the counter, in plain view, and that is deliberate. You can stand there and watch the carving before you order anything, which is the shortest route to the answer: look at what is turning, look at what comes off it, then decide. Nobody here minds being watched at work. The family has run this counter since 1984 and the spit has been turning the whole time. Our address and a map are on the contact page. Find us at the spit, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, every day.

Athens Voulgaridis

Athens is the second-generation owner of Olympia Gyro at Reading Terminal Market. The Voulgaridis family has run the counter since 1984.